Ecuador is exactly what its name promises: the country at the equator, where the sun passes directly overhead on both equinoxes and the Andean highlands exist at altitudes that make the air thin and the landscape otherworldly. The snow-capped Chimborazo volcano — the highest point in Ecuador at nearly 6,300 meters — is also the point on Earth farthest from the planet's center due to the equatorial bulge, which means that standing on Chimborazo, you are technically farther from Earth's core than standing on Mount Everest. Ecuadorians know this. It is exactly the kind of geographic fact that a proud nation stores.
What is Ecuador known for?
Ecuador is a South American nation of approximately 18 million people, bordered by Colombia to the north and Peru to the south and east, with Pacific coastline to the west. It is internationally recognized for the Galápagos Islands — the volcanic archipelago 1,000 km off the coast where Charles Darwin developed his theory of natural selection in 1835, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the world's most important ecological preserves. Ecuador is also the world's largest exporter of bananas and one of the largest exporters of roses. The country's cultural identity blends Indigenous (Quechua-speaking communities are among the most politically organized in Latin America), Spanish colonial, and Afro-Ecuadorian traditions, particularly in the coastal province of Esmeraldas. Ecuadorian cuisine includes the national dish seco de pollo (chicken stew), llapingachos (potato cakes), and the coastal encebollado (fish soup considered a hangover cure).
Ecuadorian-American identity
The Ecuadorian-American community is significant in New York City (particularly Queens), New Jersey, and Chicago, as well as in Miami and Los Angeles. Ecuador has high rates of emigration driven by economic inequality and, in recent years, political instability — meaning that Ecuadorians in the United States often left under difficult circumstances and carry a complex relationship with home. Ecuadorian pride in the diaspora is specific: it names the region (Coast? Sierra? Amazonia? Galápagos?), the city, the Indigenous community if applicable. The country contains multitudes, and Ecuadorians know it.
Keep reading:
Peru: The Country That Won at Food and Never Looked Back
Colombia: Pride, Culture, and What the Diaspora Carries
Boricua: What the Word Carries